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<\/p>\nThe eighth and final Iridium NEXT launch \u2013 that was conducted on Friday \u2013 will bring to fruition a near 12-year campaign to replace and upgrade the Iridium communications network in Earth orbit. <\/p>\n
Iridium NEXT-8 launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Liftoff took place during a single-second, instantaneous window of 07:31:33 PST (10:31:33 EST; 1531:33 UTC) on Friday, 11 January 2019.<\/p>\n
Twelve years on \u2013 Iridium NEXT constellation history:<\/b><\/p>\n
In preparation for the final launch, Iridium CEO Matt Desch talked with NASASpaceflight\u2019s Chris Gebhardt about the personal side of the completion of more than a decade\u2019s worth of work.<\/p>\n
For a company that was bankrupt in 1999, the prospect of completely replacing and upgrading its extensive orbital satellite constellation was a non-starter.<\/p>\n
But a government contract in December 2000 coupled with the sale of the company began the long road toward financial restitution for Iridium.<\/p>\n
In September 2006, Iridium hired a new CEO, Matt Desch, not just to lead the company to greater financial success but to also upgrade and improve its existing offerings.<\/p>\n
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Iridium CEO Matt Desch on an Iridium handset at SpaceX west coast pad. (Credit: Jay L. DeShetler\u200f for NSF\/L2)<\/p>\n
Less than a year after taking over the reins of the company, Mr. Desch announced plans for the Iridium NEXT constellation.<\/p>\n
Space Technology (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s has been a twelve year or so journey to get to this point,\u201d related Mr. Desch to Chris Gebhardt of NASASpaceflight. \u201cA lot of people when I did announce it back in 2007 shortly after I arrived I\u2019m sure rolled their eyes and said \u2018Yeah, I\u2019ll believe it when I see it. Weren\u2019t they just bankrupt seven years ago? And how could they ever get through that? How could they afford it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n But not only could the company afford it, their plans were well-constructed to fund, build, and develop a next-generation constellation that could anticipate the needs of future telecommunication services provided from orbit \u2013 ensuring the constellation would not become obsolete shortly after launch.<\/p>\n But that initial announcement in 2007 wasn\u2019t the only eye opening revelation Iridium would make in the developmental stage of the NEXT satellites. <\/p>\n Just three years later on 16 June 2010, Mr. Desch announced that Iridium had signed a contract with SpaceX to provide the launch services for the entire Iridium NEXT constellation \u2013 despite the fact that SpaceX had, just 12 days prior, conducted the very first launch of the Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n \u201c[When] I announced the original $492 million contract with SpaceX, there were a lot of people that basically said we made a big mistake because we were picking an untried supplier that wouldn\u2019t be ready and wouldn\u2019t be able to be there [for us].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nSee Also<\/h4>\n
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